Fugitive
by things24
Summary: After realizing what he has done to his Uncle and the world, Zuko turns against Azula in Ba Sing Se. Now he is a fugitive in his own country, and is more confused than ever. Will a certain Blind Bandit help him find his way? Toko siblingship, with Taang.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello peoples of the fan fiction world! :D ok sorry I was bored... **

**This is my Toko sibling-ship-ness thingy chapter fanfic...with a dash of Taang ^.^ And sadly I did not have time to participate in Toko week because of my stupid teachers *mumbles and grumbles about 3 projects* so maybe some drabbles will be posted...eventually... And no I will not get emo and hate the world I live in and abandon this story because of one small thing like with Rising Above...Of course I do have writers block at the moment, but fear not! I have at least 5 chapters wriiten so far! Yay! **

**I do not own A: TLA**

**LET THE STORY COMMENCE! **

**Things ****

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Chapter 1

Cold and shivering Zuko made his way back to his hidden shelter in the far end of town. He looked behind him before turning into an alley. He had finally realized what his uncle had been trying to teach him; too late. By the time he thought things through and decided to turn against Azula, Iroh was already on his way to a prison near the Fire Nation capitol. He sighed, that was his greatest regret. He was now a fugitive again, and his uncle wasn't there to guide him. He was still very confused. If the Avatar was dead, should he start a rebellion? Or should he just shrink into the shadows like many traitors were known to do? Where was he supposed to go? At least with Uncle, the man had his secret society thing to help them when they were "refugees" in the Earth Kingdom. What was it called? Order of…the White Lotus? Yes, that was it. Zuko couldn't do that though. There were all these secret riddles and a certain way to play Pai Sho. Plus he'd have to know the right people to approach.

Zuko huddled underneath the small, wooden shelter that he made out of abandoned wood crates. If someone were to look into the alley, all they'd see would be a pile of crates, and some broken pieces leaning against them. He arranged his sword sheath so that he could lie down on his side. He used his only bag that had an empty water skin, some medical herbs and handmade bandages made from his earth kingdom clothing as a pillow. He took a deep breath and let out his breath of fire. He could feel the warm sensation crawling through his veins. He fell asleep curling his patchy, red cloak around him for comfort.

**PooOooV**

The GAang had just landed in yet another Fire Nation town. Aang sighed, he hadn't minded while they were traveling in the Earth Kingdom, but being in the Fire Nation got him a bit paranoid. There was already some weird, three-eyed assassin guy chasing them.

He, Toph and Sokka were walking around town for supplies. They had stopped to watch someone trying their luck at the cup game. After someone had lost their money, Toph told them that the man was scamming people. He would move the pebble through his sleeve, so that no matter how much you followed the cup "with the pebble in it" it would be wrong. Toph had decided to give the man a taste of his own medicine.

While Toph scammed the man back, Aang was looking around. All he saw were common people; they certainly didn't seem to pose a threat. They seemed oblivious to the pain and suffering their country had caused. He saw a suspicious looking man watching Toph's performance. He had a patchy red cloak on with the hood up, and Aang could see that he had a sword underneath it. There was also a shadow covering the left side of his face. Aang noticed that his eyes were amber, and they seemed oddly familiar. The man noticed Aang staring at him and Aang was surprised to see the look of shock and recognition on the man's face. The man quickly masked it and turned his attention back to Toph, and now Sokka, who was whining over his sword being used as a bet. _How does this man know me? _Aang wondered. _Was it one of the people in Jeong Jeong's group of traitors? It couldn't be someone from the Earth Kingdom, right? _

"Hey Kuzon, ya coming?" Toph asked, nudging Aang in the elbows. Aang turned away from the man.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry." He said, following his two friends to buy supplies with their new money. Aang turned to get another glimpse of the man, but he was already gone.

**PooOooV**

Zuko couldn't breathe. _That couldn't be him…could it? _he thought, leaning against an alley wall. _Besides, the girl had called him Kuzon__…**"**_**_I had a friend in the Fire Nation a hundred years ago. His name was Kuzon…"_** _Shit! That really was him! And the girl looked too much like the earth bender to be a coincidence. And the water tribe boy was with them too. _He put his head in his hands. _He's still alive…_ Zuko was worried that the Avatar had recognized him. That wasn't likely though, since he didn't shout "Zuko?" in panic like in the past. Or maybe he understood that he wasn't supposed to attract attention. Zuko shouldn't have looked so surprised to see him, because now the Avatar would try to figure out who he was. If he figured it out he would try to run away. _But… I'm not here to capture him…. _Zuko thought miserably.

Zuko sighed, _then, what is he planning? _If the world thought he was dead, shouldn't he be hiding in the Earth kingdom, where it was safer? Why would he risk being found in the very nation that killed him? Then he remembered something Azula said,** "_They were planning on invading us on the eclipse. I highly doubt that they will continue with the plan now, but we still have to alert father of this." _**Surely the Avatar wasn't _still_ going ahead with that plan? If he was, he was completely relying on the element of surprise. _I have to warn them!_ Zuko thought, _Like hell! They wouldn't dare to trust you after Ba Sing Se, _replied his conscience.

"Dammit!" Zuko growled, hitting the wall behind him. _I have to try…_

**PooOooV**

"Twinkle Toes, what's up?" Toph asked on the way back to camp.

"Oh! Nothing, just thinking." Aang replied, knowing that saying half the truth wouldn't increase his heart rate. Toph snorted.

"Sure. It isn't about that guy is it?"

"How-how did you know?" Aang gasped.

"I don't know. It seemed that he was afraid of you and you were afraid of him judging by your heart rates." Toph shrugged. Sokka tuned in,

"What guy? Does he know who you are? Why didn't you tell us?"

"Whoa Snoozles! Slow down, give Twinkles time to think!"

"Sorry…"

Aang took a deep breath before answering.

"He was looking at you guys and I was watching him. He seemed suspicious because of the cloak he wore. He caught me staring at him and he looked surprised, as if he recognized me. He seemed familiar, but I can't remember…" Aang trailed his thoughts. Sokka was stroking his chin in deep thought.

"Did anything else seem suspicious?" he asked.

"Well he had his hood up and had a sword…"

"Highly suspicious behavior!" Sokka exclaimed just as they came in view of the campfire.

"How is that-" Aang started, but was interrupted by Katara who greeted them back.

"Sokka, be careful! Why on earth were you shouting?" she asked. She looked questionably as their many supplies, but was waiting for an answer.

"Because he thinks that the fact that someone had a sword that it makes them suspicious," Toph explained, "What's for dinner?"

"A sword? Sokka you have a sword as well. People aren't going around being suspicious of someone with a sword!" Katara laughed, unaware of the previous conversation.

"But he was staring at Aang!" Sokka said. Katara looked surprised.

"Does he know who you are?" she asked Aang.

"I don't know. He looked at me like he recognized me, but I don't know who he is."

"Then we have to get out of here. If there's a chance that someone recognizes you, we can't risk them telling anyone," Katara said. Sokka nodded in agreement.

"We should make a list of all our enemies to figure out who might know Aang." Sokka suggested.

"But what if it's friend?" Aang asked.

Sokka scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"No friend of ours will just stand there staring at you and not do anything about it. Besides, what friend of ours is in the Fire Nation?" he told Aang.

"There's Iroh…" Toph said quietly. The group was silent for a moment.

"Ok! Back to the enemies!' Sokka said quickly, getting out a piece of parchment paper. The GAang spent their meal thinking up all of their possible enemies. Sokka read the list,

"Ok! So let's see… we have the Fire Lord, lightning girl, peppy chi girl, mopey girl that throws knives and sighs a lot, Angry Jerk, pirates, that mole lady, monkey chop Zhao('what happened to him?' Aang asked) I don't know, most of the Fire Nation, the Dai Li, that cabbage guy('why him?') because he wanted to chop our heads off for wrecking his cabbages, anyone else?"

"Zuko," Katara said coldly.

"Katara, he's already on the list…"

"Put him on again!" Katara snapped. Sokka raised his hands in defense.

"Ok! Ok! Sheesh!" he said, grumbling about the monthly thing. When the proper name of Zuko was on the list, Katara snatched the brush and painted over it furiously.

"Um…Katara?" Aang started uncertain about what to say next. Toph was laughing. Sokka was staring wide eyed at his sister.

"Katara…that's enough…you're ruining the paper!" Sokka cried, taking the brush back and looking at the wet list. He glared at his sister, who only crossed her arms and looked away.

"Ok…now about the invasion-" Sokka started.

"Invasion? I want to know where you got all this stuff?" Katara exclaimed.

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**dun Dun DUN! Yeah...not much happens in this chapter... Oh and this is starts with "The Runaway" episode. **

**Who got Zuko's Story? I was so upset when they showed him in the alley with his cloak and that's exactly how I imagined the first/second paragraph! Grrrrrness to the manga for making my fic un-original for a second! T.T *sobs***

**PZ: Hah! I laugh at whoever did that XD**

**Waaaaaaah! Stop beign a meanie poop head and appearing in my fics! *whiney voice***

**PZ: XP**

**Yeah...ignore him...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ha ha! I shall be 15 tomorrow! Yay! :D I couldn't wait till then to post another chapter so here you go everyone! Happy Early Birthday to me! **

**I do not own A:TLA**

**Things**

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**Chapter 2**

Zuko was walking around town a few days after the sighting of the Avatar, when he saw him. The man was tall and muscular, and had a tattoo of an eye on his forehead. He was showing a wanted poster to someone, who was nodding. Zuko's eyes widened. It was a bounty hunter! He backed up and was about to run but noticed that it wasn't his face on the paper. He sighed of relief, _Good, then he not looking for me, I just can't get in his way. _

When they went inside a building, Zuko noticed a bunch of posters on the wall. He walked closer. He put his hood down so he could read the characters. The first one he saw was, of course, "The Traitor Prince", but the one that caught his eye was one called "The Runaway". He read the description and realized that they were describing the earth bender. _This is bad… _he thought. He was so focused on the poster that he didn't notice when a shadow loomed over him.

"Traitor Prince Zuko," the bounty hunter said.

**PooOooV**

"You betrayed me!" Toph cried dramatically to make the act seem realistic.

"I had no choice. You brought this on yourself," Katara said, turning away from Toph. She could hear the man talking to Katara about the reward and smirked. Toph felt herself being dragged into a building. The group had decided that the guy from the other day wasn't a threat and they continued to scam scammers, much to Katara's dismay. After their argument over it, and making up the next day, Katara had wanted to perform the "Ultimate Scam" with Toph.

"You got company," the guard said, throwing Toph into a cage. Toph immediately knew something was wrong.

"What kind of a cage is this?" she demanded.

"A wooden one." The guard replied, smugness in her voice as she left. _I can't see! _Toph thought, frantically feeling around the cage. Then she realized that the guard had addressed someone else when they entered.

"Is anyone else in here?" she asked. There was silence, but she could hear someone breathing.

"I can hear you." she said. There was a pause and then the person spoke,

"You're blind?" he asked. The voice was in front of her, and Toph assumed there was a cell there. The voice was also strangely familiar, but she couldn't remember where she heard it before.

"Yes," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Then how do you eart- …see?" the person asked, trying to cover his mistake.

"How do you know that I'm an earth bender?" she demanded. There was silence.

"I- um… you… your wanted poster?" He stammered, after a moment of silence. Toph crossed her arms.

"Really?"

"Yes…really…" _This guy sucks at lying. _Toph thought, _I don't even need my earth bending to tell. _

"You're lying." She said in a singsong voice. _Wait… is there a possibility that this is the guy that Aang was talking about? _ "Have you seen me before, in this town?" she asked.

"Um, no?" Toph rolled her eyes. Now she was positive.

"My friend didn't appreciate you staring at him."

"Oh…um…sorry…"

"So you _did_ see me before?"

"What? I- no! I mean…yes…" he stammered, ending in defeat. Toph grinned.

"I can't believe he was afraid of you," she said. She heard the person shift uncomfortably. She could hear to jingling of handcuffs.

"He…doesn't need to fear me," he said softly, pain obvious in his voice. That's when it hit her. **_"Get away from us!" _**

"Wait! Your Iroh's nephew! You're that Zuko person!" she exclaimed, jumping up. There was silence. _Wait, what is he doing here? Didn't he like, help kill Aang or something? _

"I…turned against Azula…if that's what you're wondering," he said. _Whoa_, _if he's on our side he could teach Aang fire bending! We'll need to get outta here first. _

"We need to get outta here," Toph stated.

"We?"

"Well yeah. You don't think I'm just gonna leave you here?" she said, getting up to feel the wooden bars.

"Can you fire bend?"

"Maybe. The only reason they handcuffed me was to prevent me from freeing _myself_," he explained. Toph could hear him getting up.

"I would step back," he warned. Toph backed up against the wall of the cage. She wasn't taking her chances with an element she couldn't see, especially when she was completely sightless at the moment. She heard the _fwoosh_ of the fire as it hit the cage. She heard another one and then his voice,

"There's a hole big enough to go through, just be careful when stepping out," he said. His breath was wasted because she just went through while he was talking, confident that he had the sense to disparate the fire.

"Or just ignore me…" he muttered.

"You talk too much Sparky," Toph said. "Now it's your turn to step back." With her sight back, she saw him step back and she cracked her knuckles. She grunted as she pulled the cell bars apart. When she was finished she stepped back to let Zuko out.

"Hold out your hands," she instructed. She felt the cuffs and metal bent them to be larger so that he could slip his hands out. She felt more metal on his feet, so she bent down and felt shackles.

"Man, they aren't taking their chances are they?" she said as she got those off as well.

"Thank…you. I owe you a great debt," Zuko said.

"Don't mention it buddy, it's what friends are for." Toph said, walking towards the door. "Oh, and are those your swords?" she asked, pointing to the metal Dao swords that were tossed in the corner.

"I-um…yes they are," Zuko stammered, obviously flustered over something.

"Well then hurry up! We're not getting younger." She said as he grabbed them.

** PooOooV**

_Friend? How can she trust me so quickly? _He thought as they ran to the guardhouse. He saw who he know knew was an assassin come out, carrying the water bender who was struggling to get free.

"Katara's in trouble!" Toph cried. She had told him her name when they started running.

"There's too many people, you can't earth bend," Zuko told her. She rolled her eyes.

"You think I don't know that?"

"Sorry…"

"You can at least fire bend right?"

"I might burn her."

"What about your swords?"

"I kind of failed at that earlier…."

"Fire bend. She'll be able to heal herself afterwards if you accidentally burn her," They stopped. Zuko hesitated, but threw a fireball at the man's foot. In surprise the man dropped Katara. He turned to his attacker and shot a blast of fire out of his eye. _What the hell is that?_ Zuko thought, nearly dodging the blast. People scattered away, not wanting to be part of the trouble. Toph had run to Katara's aid.

"I'll distract him!" Zuko shouted. She nodded and ran away with a very confused Katara in tow. Zuko turned back to the assassin and threw another fireball at him. The man dodged it and charged at Zuko. Zuko drew his swords and enveloped them with ribbons of fire. The man's iron fist clashed with his broad swords. Zuko manipulated the fire, aiming it at the eye. The man grabbed his right arm, causing the fire to go past his head. Zuko's eyes widened in horror as the man effortlessly picked him up. He tried to shoot a fireball with his left hand, but the man was quicker. Zuko couldn't respond fast enough to avoid the man's knee that was shoved up Zuko's stomach. Zuko fell to the ground, dropping his swords. He gasped from the pain, clutching his stomach. The man showed no mercy as he kicked the fire bender… **_Wanted: DEAD or Alive. _**Zuko rolled on his stomach to avoid another kick. Grunting, he struggled to get to his swords, crying out when the man slammed his foot on his left arm. He winced as he tried to stop the man from grabbing his hair with the very arm that was crushed. A hand grabbed his throat as he was lifted into the air. He desperately grabbed the man's arm with his uninjured hand, even tried to kick him, but it was no use. The world around him started going all over the place, and he saw black dots. The last thing he remembered was someone shouting before being thrown to the ground into blackness.

**PooOooV**

"Leave him alone!" Toph screamed, earth bending a rock at the man. He threw Zuko to the ground and split the rock. She could barely feel Zuko's heart beat, and he wasn't moving. Sokka and Aang caught up with her, and they dodged another blast. Katara had stayed behind to pack Appa.

"Is that the friend you were talking about?" Aang asked. She nodded, concentrating on the man who was destroying the town trying to capture them. _Good thing everyone left, _she thought. She felt Aang running towards Zuko, dodging the man's attacks with his high speed air bending. She couldn't tell if he recognized the fire bender or not, his heart rate was already increased from the battle.

"I got him!" Aang shouted, running back towards them.

"Okay! Let's get outta here!" Sokka shouted, running towards the direction of their camp. Toph threw one last rock before running with them. It must have done something, because the ground kept rumbling, and a bunch of blasts were going off at once.

"I figured out that guys name! Combustion Man!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Good job Sokka. Now let's go before Combustion Man captures us." Toph replied, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Aang was quiet the whole way.

"See? It fits perfectly!"

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**I just noticed that center didn't work on the text in the last chapter. Also this story is being changed to T to be safe...So the story is going to be like this for now on ok people? Review please! Then the children will be happy!**

**PZ: Are you implying that you are a child?**

**What? You! Go away! *shoos*But I am very child-like, yes...**

**PZ: XP**

**XP to you too! *sticking out tongue war commences***


	3. Chapter 3

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**I am 15, bored and impatient...**

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**Chapter 3**

They slowed to a walk as they approached the cliffs that they camped behind.

"Toph, who is this person?" Aang finally asked. Toph was surprised, couldn't he see who it was?

"His cloak's covering him, so I can't tell. But I have a feeling…" Aang started. Toph sighed.

"We all know him," she admitted. Aang nodded.

"I figured…"

"Wait? I don't know who he is!" Sokka cried, feeling left out over something so obvious.

"I trust your judgment Toph, but Katara's a problem."

"I can handle Sugar Queen."

"But can he? In his condition? He won't have a say unless he wakes up."

"What are you talking about?" Sokka was ignored.

"I don't care. She'll have to deal with it."

"You know what she did to the list…"

"She has to get over it. He's changed, I can tell."

"Who? What? When? How?"

"I realize that, he nearly got himself killed for us. Its just…Katara can really hold a grudge. You weren't there when he turned against us."

"She forgave Jet didn't she?"

"When he was dying!"

"Oh….yeah. But….he's sorta half dead himself…"

"Not funny Toph…"

"I wasn't trying to be."

They entered camp and Katara was waiting for them,

"Guys! Hurry! Get up on Appa!" she ushered. "Wait, who's that?"

"Katara, we need to talk for a minute." Aang said in his "I'm the Avatar I mean business" voice. He air bent Zuko onto Sokka's back, who "omfed" from the sudden weight. Toph sensed Katara's confusion, as she was lead farther away.

"Okay Snoozles. We need to get Sparky on Appa _before_ Sweetness explodes," she ordered Sokka, earth bending a platform upwards next to Appa. Sokka placed Zuko carefully on the bison's back.

"Toph, would you mind telling me what's going on?" Toph blew her bangs. _Jeez, Sparky's hood just refuses to move doesn't it? _She got on Appa, and felt around for him. She touched his face that was covered by the hood. She was surprised to feel a rough, almost unpleasant texture on part of his face, but decided it wasn't important. She flipped his hood of and then his hood wasn't the only thing that flipped.

"What the-Toph! He's-GAH!" Sokka shouted, as he fell off Appa. Toph chuckled and shook her head at his stupidity. When Sokka got back on the bison he shook Toph's shoulders.

"Toph! What were you thinking?" she shoved his hands off.

"He's my friend. Deal with it."

"But he's **Angry Jerk**_! Prince _of the _Fire Nation__!_"

"He's more like Shy Guy, Prince of the Awkward Nation," she said.

"This is no time for jokes!" Sokka shouted. She laughed; he was not amused.

"Seriously Toph. You don't know the things he's done." Toph shook her head.

"What I _know _is that he's been going through tough times and is very confused. He made the first step in turning against Azula and he's trying to make amends by nearly getting himself killed. I don't know what he did to you guys, but I do know that he regrets it." Toph could tell that Sokka was stunned.

"I just don't want anyone to get hurt," he said softly. He received a punch in the face after that.

"What was that for?" he cried.

"Oops, that doesn't work up here when I can't see…" she said with an innocent grin. She heard Sokka sigh.

"Fine. He can stay until he's healed and then we decide what to do after."

** PooOooV**

He felt the burning of the sun in his soul before fully gaining consciousness. He didn't want to get up, he was sore and his head wouldn't stop pounding. There was also sharp pain in his left arm. Then he realized that he could actually _feel_ his arm. _How is that possible?_ He thought. He surrendered to the sun as he groaned and rubbed his eye. He heard a gasp.

"Sparky? You awake?" the familiar voice asked. He slowly opened his eye and looked through his fingers. It was Toph.

"Toph?" he asked his voice dry. He was uncertain where he was and why she was with him.

"You were out for about a day and a half," she explained. He took his hand off and sat up. He winced, but it wasn't that bad. Toph made no move to stop him with worry like Uncle would have.

"Where are we?" he asked, taking in his surroundings. They were in an enclosed stone structure, almost like a stone tent. The only source of light was the crack in what he assumed was the entryway, covered by a tent flap. His eyes adjusted and he saw a splint on his injured arm. He was lying on a sleeping mat covered by a blanket and Toph was next to him. Despite the shortage of light he saw that she had dark circles under her eyes and he had lived with Azula enough to know when girls were cranky.

"We're somewhere in the Fire Nation," Toph answered. He sighed; he would've preferred her answer to be a little more specific, but didn't want to risk getting snapped at. If they were still in the Fire Nation, then they haven't traveled far considering the fact that he was unconscious for about two days.

"Everyone else went to get supplies," she explained further.

"Oh," was all he had to say to that. He ran his hand through his long hair. What did the others think of him? Did they want him gone as soon as he woke up?

"So far we only decided on letting you stay till you're healed," Toph explained, reading his thoughts. Her voice hinted that she wasn't pleased with the decision. Suddenly his stomach roared, and he blushed.

"Someone's hungry," Toph laughed. Indeed he was, he hadn't eaten since the morning before the man showed up in town. He put his hand to his belly. Toph threw him half a loaf of bread.

"That's all we have right now," she said, biting into her half. Zuko ate his bread and lied back down, putting a hand to his forehead.

"Damn, my head hurts too much," he muttered as he fell back asleep.

**PooOooV**

Toph sighed as Zuko's soft snores filled the tent once more. She was hoping that he'd stay up so she wouldn't be bored, but that wasn't the case. She figured she could get some sleep now that he'd woken up and she didn't have to worry, but found that she couldn't. Something about him just gave her the will to stay up. She snapped her head in Zuko's direction when he started muttering incomprehensively. She leaned in to hear. She _finally_ had something to do and she couldn't wait to tease him about whatever juicy stuff he'd spill in his sleep later.

"Stop it," he said. She jumped back, thinking he had caught her, but she saw him shift and breathe deeply in his sleep. He started murmuring again,

"Dad would never do that…" _Huh? _She thought as she leaned in again. _What in the world is he dreaming about?_

"I want to go-war meeting…" he mumbled. She heard him sigh. A few minutes passed and he didn't say anything else. Before she knew what she was doing, she reached out and touched his forehead. She felt Zuko relax into the touch. _Dang, he's even tense in his sleep…_ She moved her hand downward and felt his eyelid and cheekbone. She traced his lips and his chin. A sudden flashback from the other day came to her mind. _Something felt different,_ she thought as she moved her hand to the left side of Zuko's face. She cocked her head to the side wondering what she was feeling. She rubbed her hand across the rough skin. _A scar? _She wondered, _If it is, then it must be a burn, but from what? _Judging from the old feeling in the skin, Toph figured it must have been at least a year or more old. Zuko shifted in his sleep again, and Toph yawned. _I guess I can go to sleep now…_she thought, as she lied down on the ground. Soon enough her snores joined the ex prince's in the stone tent.

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**Yes, another chapter. Since my birthday is not tomorrow anymore, there won't be any day by day updates *sob!* And those of yo uwho wer wondering abotu the GAang's reaction to Zuko, you'll get more of that in the next chapter. And excuse my corny humor and self inflicted angst that I put randomly to beat writers block XD**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well I just found out Toko week was THIS week...ug...and yet when I hand in my projects the teachers decide to give us MORE projects! Sheesh! I have a jury to do! And finals are coming... Well enough with my ramblings...on to the story!**

**Things :D**

**Chapter 4**

Zuko fluttered his eyes opened. He was surprised that he had fallen asleep despite the sun being up and the over whelming pounding in his head. He jumped when he felt a hand on his face and extra weight next to him. He looked over and realized it was Toph. He began to move her hand away. Suddenly the tent flap opened revealing a familiar dark skinned boy about a year younger than himself.

"Toph, it's- what are you doing?" he screamed at Zuko. Zuko realized his hand was still on Toph's and quickly moved it away.

"Her hand was on my-"

"Shut up angry jerk!" he snapped, making Zuko to flinch. The guy shook Toph awake while glaring at Zuko.

"Sokka…five more minutes…" she groaned.

"No! He was touching you!"

"It's not what you think!" Zuko protested.

"I told you to shut up!"

"Make me!"

Toph bolted up, whacking both Zuko and Sokka on the head. Both teens rubbed the spot in response.

"Can't anyone get sleep around here? Sheesh!" she shouted. Zuko looked at the ground. He figured it was because of him that she barely got any sleep for the past day and a half. The water tribe boy didn't seem to care.

"Well,_ maybe_ if Angry Jerk wasn't here most of us would have slept better!" he said. 

"One, he has a _name_. Two, I couldn't get it through your thick skull that he was _injured and unconscious_ and wouldn't be able to capture you! He doesn't even want to anymore!" she snapped back. Zuko didn't like the fact that they were fighting over him. He sat there miserably as the two quarreled.

"Sokka! Enough! We already had this discussion!" Toph shouted, exasperated. Sokka crossed his arms and glared at Zuko, who didn't notice.

"I'll…leave…if that's what you want," Zuko offered. Toph gasped.

"What?" she said.

"Yes!" Sokka said, fists pumping into the air. He stopped short,

"Wait…this is a trap!" he said. _What? _Zuko thought.

"You!" he said, pointing at a confused Zuko, "Want us to let you go so you can report us to your evil dad and get your so called 'honor' back!" Zuko looked as if he had been slapped in the face.

"Sokka…" Toph growled, "That's enough!"

"No! If we let him out of our sight, he'll get us killed!"

"I'm sick and tired of this!" Toph screamed, storming out of the tent. Sokka looked regretful for a moment and then turned to Zuko.

"Look what you did!" he jeered, as he got up and followed the upset earth bender, leaving Zuko in the darkness of the earth tent. Zuko sighed and put his head in his hands, ignoring the searing pain that followed on his left arm._ This isn't right. I shouldn't be the cause of ruining their friendship… _He looked at his stuff in the corner of the tent, his Dao swords, the cloak, and the bag. He then looked at Toph's unfinished half of the bread. He slowly got up, ignoring the sores and pounds traveling through his head and body, and packed the bread in his bag. He put on his cloak, grabbed his swords and slung the bag on his shoulders.

Zuko peered through the flap. He saw Sokka disappear into the trees, and he assumed that's where Toph was too. He didn't see the Avatar or the water bender, and decided the coast was clear. He slipped past the other tents and into the trees in the opposite direction that Toph went. As soon as he could barely feel the heat of the cooking fire as a part of him, he ran.

He felt his heart pumping faster as he ran deeper into the forest. He didn't even know where he was going. He just wanted to get away, away from the arguing, the confusion, and the _kindness._ No one has ever defended him like that. He was discarded, told multiple times that he was useless, **_"You were lucky to be born…"_**

His body screamed for him to stop, but he kept going. Zuko was completely unfamiliar with Toph's actions. Risking her friendship with the water tribe warrior, risking her friendship with the _Avatar _just for him; the scarred, banished prince of the _Fire Nation _that no one wanted. Even those who loved him went away. _It's my entire fault…_ he thought. Suddenly he tripped on a root. He cried out, and then landed face flat on the ground, getting dirt in his mouth. He coughed it out, while panting. His lungs burned from exerting his body too much. He groaned in frustration.

"Why can't I do anything right?" he shouted into the forest.

**PooOooV**

Aang landed on a tree branch after jumping through the forest. He sighed miserably, would he ever find him? It was already dusk. Earlier, Aang had been practicing water bending with Katara when Toph ran in screaming about how Sokka was "being an asshole." Katara asked what was wrong when Sokka came in. He started ranting on how Zuko was planning to leave to report them to the Fire Lord. This caused a huge argument between Sokka and Toph. Katara was on Sokka's side and Aang tried not to be on a side, but ended up not on the same terms with the water tribe siblings. Aang suggested they should get back to camp and discuss this in a civil manner. Katara agreed and it was settled. While on their way back, Toph suddenly stopped.

**"Something's wrong," Toph said, crouching down to the ground. She jammed her hands into the earth.**

**_"Toph?" Aang asked, with worry. Toph's face scrunched up in concentration and frustration. _**

******_"Now you've done it Sokka!" she shouted, getting up. _**

******_"What did I do?" Sokka whined. _**

******_"Either Zuko suddenly died which is least likely, or he left because you treated him like crap!" she screamed back, "I can't feel his vibrations!" She ran back to the camp. The rest of the group was stunned. Toph had never been this upset before. Aang immediately ran after Toph and he heard the siblings follow. He entered the campsite and it was earth bended into smithereens. Toph was in the middle of it all, her body trembling with clenched fist. Aang walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. _**

******_"Toph don't worry," he started. Toph knocked his hand away. Before she could interrupt him, he continued, "I'll do anything in my power to get him back. We'll work on getting him on good terms with Sokka and Katara, okay? We're not going to lose him." He received a punch in the shoulder. _**

******_"Thanks Twinkle Toes," she said. _**

Aang sighed again. _How far could Zuko have gone? _He started jumping through the trees again. Suddenly he smelled something cooking, something familiar. _Fish? _Aang wonder as he followed the scent. The smell lead him to a river, probably downstream from where Aang and Katara were water bending. On the other side of it was a campfire, with the very person Aang was looking for next to it. He snuck closer and watched from behind a bush as the annoyed fire bender spat out his under cooked fish and muttered curses. Zuko threw the fish in frustration, put his right arm around his knees and rested his head on top. Aang noticed that Zuko's left arm had a splint and was lying limp besides the older teen. He hadn't seen the fire bender since carrying him away from Combustion Man. Katara had deemed him dangerous for Aang to be near, despite the fact that he was unconscious and wasn't really a threat.

"I know you're there," Zuko said. Aang gasped. _How did he know? **Duh**, he didn't chase you around the world for nothing._ Aang peered over the bush. Zuko was staring at him and Aang gave him a sheepish smile. He walked up to the fire and sat across from Zuko. Zuko stared into the fire and ignored Aang after that. Aang rubbed his neck nervously, feeling the still unfamiliar hair.

"Toph…wants you to come back," he said. He saw a flicker of surprise in Zuko's eyes, but it was quickly masked.

"Oh," was all Zuko said.

"I wanted to apologize for Sokka. He can be…over protective…" Aang said, looking for Zuko's reaction.

"It's nothing. He was just protecting you guys," Zuko said, eyes downcast.

"Toph told me what Sokka said. That was wrong of him-"Aang started.

"Why are you doing this?" Zuko asked, interrupting Aang. Aang raised his eyebrows.

"Why am I doing what?" he asked. Zuko sighed,

"Why are you apologizing, for something you didn't even say? Why are you apologizing…to _me_?" Aang was stunned. _Didn't Zuko see that Sokka was wrong? That you're supposed to apologize if you hurt someone? _

"Because that's what you're supposed to do," Aang stated. This time Zuko couldn't mask his surprise.

"But…you're supposed to punish those who wronged you…right?" he said, obviously confused with the answer. Aang sat there astonished.

"Is that what they say in the Fire Nation?" Aang said, eyes popping out of his head. _Kuzonwould never "punish" someone who wronged him. I mean, sure, Toph would get revenge by playing a prank on you, but "punish?" The way he said that was scary…almost like he experienced it… _Zuko didn't answer. Aang saw his left hand lift ever so slightly, but was quickly placed back on the floor. Aang's eyes traveled up to Zuko's scar before looking at Zuko's unseeing eyes. There was so much pain mixed in the golden depths of the fire bender, it almost made Aang sick. _No wonder Toph got so angry with Sokka… _he thought. Aang knew what to do. He got up and hugged Zuko, startling the teen.

"What-what are you doing?" Zuko demanded, squirming to get out of Aang's grip.

"Giving you a hug, you need it," Aang said, squeezing even tighter. _Why is he resisting? _

"No! Just- stop!" Zuko cried, shoving Aang out of the way. Aang landed on his back, hurt by Zuko's rejection.

"What's wrong with you?" Aang asked softly. Before Aang could register what he just said, the campfire shot up.

"Leave me alone!" Zuko screamed at him, backing up.

"No! Wait! I didn't mean that!" Aang cried, getting back up. Zuko shook his head.

"Please! Just go away!" he shouted. Aang sighed. _I screwed up badly…_ he thought as he turned and ran back to camp.

**PooOooV**

She felt Aang's hurried, light footsteps before hearing them. She knew Zuko wasn't with him. Aang slowed down and finally stopped, hesitating.

"You people keep forgetting I can _feel_ you," Toph said. Aang sighed and entered the campsite.

"Toph, I- I'm sorry. He wanted me to leave…" Aang stammered. _He's telling the truth, but not all of it, _Toph thought.

"Of course he wanted you to leave," Katara started. Toph threw a large pebble at her and the water bender didn't finish whatever nasty comment she had to say. Sokka was sulking, not seeing why Toph was angry with him, or why she was going through such length for the prince. Toph had gone the other way, searching through earth bending, with no luck.

"So you saw him," Toph said. Aang sighed and sat down.

"Yeah, I did." Toph blew her bangs.

"That's okay Twinkles, I know you probably tried your best. Show me where he went and I'll talk to him."

"But it's dark!" Sokka cried. Toph crossed her arms,

"Oh really? I guess I didn't notice since it's _always _dark!" she snapped. Sokka didn't reply, knowing she wasn't just annoyed this time. She got up and started heading towards a random direction.

"Toph? It's the other way…" Aang said. He got up and gently pushed her towards the general direction. Toph nodded and walked in the right direction.

It took a long time, and energy, but she finally felt his vibrations. He was sleeping, but tossing and turning. She quickened her pace and made it to the small campsite. She crept over to him and shook him. He bolted up and suddenly Toph felt intense pain in her hands and forearm.

"OW! You burned me!" she cried, falling on her back. She heard a gasp,

"I'm sorry!" Zuko shouted, grabbing her shoulder. She pushed it away, tears filling her eyes.

"Get away from me!" she screamed. She rolled over and got up to run. A hand grabbed her shoulder and she earth bended it away. She heard a grunt and saw Zuko fall to the ground. She felt bad; after all he was still healing from Combustion Man's beating.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" he cried, struggling to get up. He managed to stand and she threw another rock at him. He dodged it and tried to grab her again.

"No!" she shouted. She had to get to Katara, quick. She ran away, leaving Zuko standing there alone. The last thing she felt was his body falling to his knees, followed by a shout,

"Dammit!"

* * *

**Tsk tsk tsk... yeah...um...*dodges flameballs* Don't kill me! **

**Anyways, we are nearing the writers block area so another "chapter" will be updated...sooner or later... as soon as I figure out what to do with two idiots in chapter 6...and frankly I really don't have a plan, there isn't much of a plot going on just a bunch of self inflicted angst/emo-ness from Zuko and supportive sister-like with a touch of snarkiness from Toph. Mix them together and you have Toko siblingship! :D Yay! Yeah...HL and SY need to help me... S.O.S nakama! Me needs help!**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAASE REVIEW! I KNOW MORE THAN FIVE OF YOU READ THIS! (not counting HL and SY) I really need critism and stuff...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello fellow readers! I'm back with a short filler-ish chapter thingy. Thank you those who gave suggestions and critism!**

**Things :D**

* * *

Zuko couldn't sleep the rest of that night. He had lost the trust of the one person who cared about him, _again, _maybe two_. _He should've known she'd come after him after rejecting the Avatar. Now…she was hurt, and it was because of him. **_"What's wrong with you?" _**the Avatar had said. He didn't know. He felt pain everywhere he went and hid it through anger. When he was alone there was no one there to hide it from, so he had grown used to just letting it flow. In the cell with Toph was the first time he had opened up to anyone, even if it was just a little, since Ba Sing Se. Now, he felt like he had lost something. He felt like hiding…

**PooOooV**

"Toph, what's wrong?" Aang said, as he ran to the earth bender. She had run into camp, sniffling and cradling her hand. He ran up and grabbed her arm. He gasped at the burned arms and hands.

"Who did this?" he demanded. She hesitated.

"Zuko," she answered softly.

**PooOooV**

She knew what would happen the moment she told Aang. He gasped and Sokka happened to get up at that time.

"He what?" Sokka shouted, waking up Katara with his loudness. Katara immediately started to heal Toph's hand. She asked what happened and Sokka told her "That bastard tried to kill Toph and burned her hands."

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!" Katara said, making Toph sit down so she could concentrate.

"It was an accident!" Toph protested.

**PooOooV**

Katara was angry. No, she was more than angry, she was furious! She knew that taking Zuko with them was a bad idea… now look at what happened! Toph got burned! She muttered angrily as she bandaged Toph's arms. Also, she couldn't believe that Toph was _still _defending him!

"I snuck up on him and woke him up! It was a natural reaction!" she said.

"Oh really? And I don't suppose he offered any help? Why else would you have run here?" Sokka said.

"I panicked!"

"Ug!" Sokka groaned, tired of arguing.

"Toph, face it. He hasn't changed one bit. It just so happened that Combustion Man saw him as an enemy and knocked him out. It doesn't mean he's on our side," Katara said. Toph sighed.

"It's no use arguing with you," she said.

* * *

**Now you'll have to wait until I have the whole plot figured out! Yayz for more waiting! :D**

**PZ: I disagree. I don't think they want to wait...**

**... I BANISH JOO! *FIRE SLAP!* **

**PZ: That...doesn't work...*cough*HL*cough* ignore her crazy author's note as I take an asprin *leaves***

**Why must he be such a meanie poop head?**

**PS: These kinds of authors notes relieve some of the stress hanging on my shoulders. FINALS START TOMORROW! ACK!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yeah, turns out center is poem format. **

**Chapter 6 was original going to be this loooong 20 page thing on Word...but it proved to be such an impossible task! I bow before those authors who manage long chapter on this website. I also have a DeviantArt now! :D Yayz! I'm still things24 so yeah... at least DA makes my 5-6 page chapters not look puny...lol. But then again I can't really draw...**

**Things :D**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

****There was screeching as a messenger hawk soared through the night sky. On closer inspection you would see another large bird chasing the hawk. The bird was a falcon hawk* and it belonged to a man watching the chase from a cliff. The falcon captured the hawk with the ribbon attached to the message compartment. The hawk struggled and screeched but the falcon had a tight grip. The hawk was delivered to the predator's master and the man took the message and threw it away. The hawk staggered but managed to fly back the way it assumed it came. The man had an eye on his forehead and it known to us all as Combustion Man.

** OoO**

Aang sat at the campfire helplessly as the group ate in silence. Momo chattered noisily at Sokka, trying to get his food. Sokka just waved him away without a word. Momo scolded Sokka for lack of attention and flew on top of Appa's head. Suddenly there was impatient tapping on Aang's shoulder. _Oh!_ He feed Toph more food, murmuring an apology. Even though the burns were healing she couldn't use her hands for things such was holding chopsticks; although that wasn't a problem with Sokka, who simply ate with his hands. Speaking of which, the sulking warrior suddenly shot up from his sitting position.

"Where's Hawky?" he asked. Silence.

"I'm sorry Sokka," Katara began, with a mock tone of an apology, "_Toph _wanted to send a letter to her parents before we left for the "thing" that we did that got her to meet and bring _that lying, good for nothing **Prince**_ to us!_" _she spat. Toph immediately jumped up.

"Oh _excuuuse _me! Miss, 'I will never _ever_ abandon people who need me!'" she said, using an over exaggerated voice to imitate Katara. Katara stood up as well.

"Stop it Toph! That was different!" she growled, moving towards Toph. Aang looked at Sokka for help, but he already had his mouth full of food trying to ignore the situation.

"I don't see what's so different just because he's a prince! I'll have you know that he's an _ex_-prince now. Combustion Man didn't just see him as someone who got in the way, he was WANTED!" Toph shouted, stomping her foot.

"So what? Maybe he deserved to get captured!" Katara retorted.

"No one deserves to get captured by the Fire Nation and you know it!"

"There are exceptions to every rule!"

"Oh now we're talking about _rules_ again?"

"Everyone STOP!" Aang shouted, air bending the girls to separate. He had tears threatening to fall out, "We are a _team_! We need to work together even through the toughest disagreement." Both girls crossed their arms and refused to look at each other, "Katara, you need to stop letting your emotions control your actions towards others," Katara hrmphed but listened, "And Toph…." The earth bender lifted her head upon hearing her name, "I'm sorry but…Zuko _did _burn you. I don't think we should look for him anymore…" Toph stood silent for a moment, but slowly nodded her head. Aang sighed, relieved that the argument was over, but the tension still hung in the air.

"I'm…sorry…Katara," Toph said. Her voice was cracked and they knew she was hiding her tears. Katara softened at the apology and looked at Toph with understanding.

"I'm sorry too," she said, embracing Toph in a hug. Toph accepted it. Aang joined in on the hug and so did Sokka, who decided to stop eating. Appa groaned wanting to join and the group moved their group hug to the bison's fluffy head, with Momo going on Aang's shoulder.

**OoO**

Zuko trudged through the forest, trying to get his bearings. _I still don't think things through, _he thought. He had no idea where he was, but he was somewhere in the Fire Nation. _Great, just great. _His stomach growled, he had already eaten his bread. He stopped and looked back to where he came. He shook his head; they were probably long gone. Before he took another step he heard voices.

"I heard that there's another town not too far from here," one said. Zuko almost gasped, and desperately looked for the best hiding spot. He settled with climbing a tree, hopefully these people wouldn't look up. The tree was low enough that he could climb it without hurting his arm too much.

"Really? That's good, I want to get out of this forest quickly," another said.

"You don't really believe those town folk do you Shing? It's a bunch of hogmonkey crap," the first voice said in disbelief. Zuko looked down and two men were coming through the trees. They had matching topknots and armor. _Patrol soldiers, _Zuko thought, _non-benders._

"Well…I guess, lets just make sure we get out before the next full moon. You how suppositious I am Chen," Shing warned.

"Loosen up. Lets take a break I'm hungry," Chen said, wiping his brow. He decided to rest underneath the very tree that Zuko was hiding in.Zuko carefully adjusted his footing to a more stable position. He stared down at the now laughing men hungrily. They had taken out their food and were eating it very…slowly… _Damn, it's like they're doing it on purpose… _Zuko thought. He tightened his grip on the tree trunk; he usually didn't stay in a tree for this long. Sneaking around the forest wasn't like sneaking around in a city. He looked up and saw birds flying near.

"Hey! Look! Our next meal!" the first guy pointed. The second one took out an arrow and tried to shoot down a bird. He muttered a curse when the bird dodged it. To Zuko's horror, a messenger hawk landed in his tree. It was obviously untrained and lost.

"Shoo! Go away!" he whispered to it. Instead it squawked. _Shit… _

"Hey there's one in the tree!" one of them said. _Stupid bird…_ Zuko carefully peered through the leaves down where the men where searching for the bird. He concentrated on the grass near one man's foot. With a flick of his wrist the fire shot out on the grass.

"Ahh!" Shing cried, jumping away. He then tried to stamp it out. _It's not going to be that easy, _Zuko thought, giving the small fire more juice.

"What the hell is going on?" Chen shouted, forcing his comrade to move away.

"How should I know?"

"Let's get outta here!" he suggested. Shing nodded and they packed up their belongings and ran away. Zuko took a deep breath and the fire went out.

"That was a close one," he muttered. The bird squawked again and Zuko glared at it.

"Shut up!" he growled. He grabbed the branch and dangled with his uninjured arm. He swung back and force and then let go. He landed into a crouch and noticed that a small bag was left behind. He opened it and was pleased to see some spicy jerky and rice cakes. He took a piece of jerky and packed the rest in his shoulder bag.

"SQUAWK!"

Zuko stopped and turned around. The hawk was still in the tree and it was looking at him. No…not at him, at the jerky in his hand. Before he could react, the bird swooped down and took it from his fingers.

"Hey! Get back here!" Zuko yelled at the bird. It ignored him and flew through the forest. Zuko was too hungry to register how foolish chasing the bird would be, or remembering that he had more in his bag. After running through the forest and losing sight of the bird he gave up, the sun was setting and it was getting dark. He face palmed in frustration and embarrassment over his stupidity.

"Poor thing. You're so hungry you chased a bird," a gentle, but raspy voice said. Zuko swung around to face an elderly woman with a basket, smiling at him. He backed away from her.

"Um…" he said, not sure how to address the woman. She began to creep him out smiling at him like that.

"Come, I have an inn in town. You can rest and eat. A young man like you shouldn't be out here alone," she said. She beckoned for him to follow and walked to a path that Zuko didn't notice before. _She's just an old woman, but I should be cautious she's really suspicous, _Zuko thought as he followed her.

"My my, it's getting dark. Are you a fire bender?" she asked, not turning around to face Zuko. His splinted arm brushed the hilt of his sword.

"No m'am," he lied.

"No, I will not allow such formalities. I am Hamma," she said, finally turning towards Zuko.

"I'm Lee," Zuko said automatically.

"Lee? Well that's a very common name…" she laughed, "No matter, here we are!" She brought them to a building with three stories. A single lantern glowed above a door. They walked through a garden of sorts and arrived at the stoop.

"This is my back entrance, the town is just down the hill out front," Hamma explained opening the door to a hallway. Zuko hesitated, but entered the inn. She led him to a dining room and told him sit down.

"Would you like some food dear? I have some leftovers," she asked. Zuko shook his head but Hamma went to the other room and brought out a plate of food anyways. She sat next to him on his right and waited expectantly for him to eat. Zuko poked the food with the chopsticks, grimacing when blood oozed out of the piece of meat. He looked back at Hamma who was smiling at him. He quickly put the food in his mouth and found that it wasn't so bad for leftovers.

"So Lee, where are you headed?" Hamma asked after he took a few bites. Zuko swallowed before answering.

"I…um" he cleared his throat, "I'm going to the…next town! To…visit someone…" he added lamely. He shoved more food in his mouth nervously. He stole a glance at Hamma, who was _still _smiling at him.

"Oh? Whom are you visiting?" she said gently, as if she believed his awful lie.

"Um…my…Uncle! …..Mushi…." he said. He stopped eating, memories of Ba Sing Se filled his mind and he felt a pang in his heart. Hamma either took no notice of his change of mood, or ignored it.

"That must be sweet. Is he a nice man?" she asked. Zuko put his chopsticks down with a dreamlike expression on his face.

"Yeah…he's…he's great guy…" he answered sadly, his voice cracking towards the end. He coughed quickly to cover it. He pushed his plate away, no longer hungry.

"I should get going tomorrow…" he told her.

"Oh that's isn't a good idea child," she began mysteriously. Zuko almost scowled at the word "child" but asked the important question,

"Why?"

"It takes three days through the forest to get to the next town. There's a full moon coming up," she stopped and looked at Zuko for his reaction.

"And?"

"And," an ominous aura filled the room, "during a full moon…people go into the forest…and they **don't – come – out**!" she said, putting empathizes "out", slamming her hands on the table. Zuko stared at her with a skeptical expression.

"But don't worry! If you stay here you'll be safe and sound!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together and wearing a creepy grin. Zuko had a hard time refraining from backing away. _Creepy… _he thought, obliviously disturbed by Hamma's actions.

"Are you finished? I'll take you to your room now," she said, getting up.

**OoO**

Sokka couldn't sleep. Although the girls had made up and Toph wasn't mad at him anymore there was still a problem, Zuko was still out there. If he isn't a traitor he can go back to his palace and tell the Fire Lord where they were. If he _was _a traitor (Sokka hated the fact that Toph might be right) someone like Combustion Man would try to capture him and ask questions. Most likely were they were, _again_. Zuko would have no reason _not_ to tell someone where the group was, look at how he was treated. Sokka felt a slight wave of guilt as he remembered the fire bender's condition when Katara healed him on Appa. _He_ certainly didn't want to wake up to find some person that he thought was allies with the only source of hope in the world yelling at _him_. Sokka sighed, maybe they did let their emotions cloud their judgment. Sokka's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the familiar shrieking of a messenger hawk.

"Hawky?" he asked, yawning from being awake. He sat up and was knocked down by a bird.

"Hawky!" Sokka cried, waking everyone up.

"Sokka, why are you making noise?" Katara asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Hawky's back!" he exclaimed. Hawky nudged Sokka, "Ohhhh! And he brought jerky!" Sokka drooled, grabbing and eating the mysterious food.

"Hey! I want some!" Toph said, extending her hand.

"Sowry…" Sokka said, mouthful of hard to chew spicy jerky. Toph huffed in disappointment and went back to her earth tent. Aang yawned.

"Ok…we ha-ah-vee Hawky back…." He slurred, falling asleep again.

"Sokka go to sleep…" Katara ordered, laying back down on her sleeping mat.

"Sure…" Sokka said, finally being able to rest, until Hawky and Momo started fighting on top of him again. "ACK! Stop fighting! Bad Momo! Bad Hawky! OW!"

Everyone groaned knowing they wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night.

**OoO**

Moonlight shown on the inn. It illuminated though a single open window, landing on a figure sitting cross-legged in the middle of a queen sized bed. Zuko stared at the moon; memories of the North Pole flashed though his mind. All this talk about the full moon and people disappearing brought the image of the Avatar as the water spirit destroying the Fire Nation fleet. A quick thought wished it would snow; it was so damn hot in the room. _Agni, it must be the hottest night in the whole frickin Nation! _ Zuko's clothes lay sprawled on the floor, leaving him with only his under shorts on.

"Ug!" Zuko plopped on the bed and put an arm over his eyes. He couldn't help but think of his situation right now. One, he is a traitor therefore he is a fugitive in his own country. Two, the Avatar is alive and plans to invade the capitol on the eclipse. Three, his father _knows _about the invasion. Four. He just blew his chance at gaining the Avatar's trust and warning them about it. Five, he has no idea where he is and his left arm is injured.

The next morning Zuko rose with the sun, slipped on his clothes and trudged downstairs. When he entered the kitchen the smell of tea hit his nose. He turned to see Hamma at the stove with a teapot.

"Oh, you're up! Just in time for morning tea!" Hamma exclaimed, taking the pot and pouring the tea into two cups. Zuko sighed and sat down with her at the small kitchen table. He took a sip of tea and found that it wasn't as good as Uncle's but it was still pretty good.

"Lee, may I ask you something?" Hamma said after a few moments of morning silence. Zuko hesitated, unsure of her motivation. _Does she suspect something? _He nodded after giving it some thought; he had to act casual. He took a sip of tea.

"I'm very old and I don't get many travelers that stay very long. My hands aren't like they used to be when I was young. Would you be kind enough to do some chores for me?" Zuko almost choked on his tea, but composed himself. He swallowed slowly and put the cup down.

"Yes…I would be happy to assist you…I…I don't have anything to pay you with for letting me stay…" Zuko said politely.

"Oh hush now! I invited you!" she said. She got up and ruffled Zuko's hair before placing the pot and cups near the sink to be cleaned. Zuko rubbed his head and scowled, _Jeez…she wants me to do chores and then treats me like a child…_

After breakfast and for the rest of the morning Hamma asked Zuko the chop wood (he discovered that she must have put pain relievers in his tea for his arm_)_, clean mice poop from under the stove (Zuko now despises mice), fix a window (he hit his thumb with the hammer again), get eggs from the pickens (the rooster-hawk would **not** stop pecking him), and dust the high furniture on a chair (he had never sneezed so much in his life). Hamma smiled at an exhausted and irritated Zuko with his head and arms down on the table. She placed a bowl of noodles in front of him. He looked up to stare at it, only to put his head down again.

"I'm not hungry…" came the muffled response.

"It's lunchtime. If you don't eat you'll get hungry later," Hamma replied. Zuko groaned, not caring if it seemed impolite. Hamma shook her head and chuckled.

"Believe it or not you are still young. It's unhealthy to skip a meal at your age."

"You don't know how old I am," he grumbled in defiance.

"I know that you are younger that 19, but older than 15," she said, "Although people may think you are much older with that scar of yours." Zuko's head snapped up.

"What?" he whispered, unconsciously touching the scar.

"I said that people would think you are older with it, that's all," she repeated.

"Oh…" he said, putting his hand down. His stomach growled, disagreeing with his earlier statement; he had no choice but to eat. He didn't notice Hamma staring at him.

"Lee…" she started.

"Hm?" he was in the middle of slurping noodles and was sure he looked ridiculous. **

"What happened to your arm there?"

"M-meye arhm?" he repeated with a mouth full of noodles. He tensed at forgetting his manners, but remembered that Hamma wasn't his mother… _Quick! Think of something! _He took his time swallowing the noodles. Hamma waited patiently as Zuko came up with a cover story.

"I…" he began, fiddling with the chopsticks.

"Yes?" Hamma asked, leaning in to hear.

"I fell." He said bluntly, avoiding her gaze.

"Oh! Well I'm glad it to hear wasn't a horrible experience," she said calmly, with a slight undertone that suggested something else. He looked at her trying to figure out what she meant, but she just smiled at him sweetly. The rest of the bowl was finished in awkward silence.

"It looks like you're done there," Hamma started. _I don't like that tone…_Zuko thought thinking back to the cause of his exhaustion that morning. Zuko jumped suddenly, startled when Hamma appeared next to him.

"I need some red cabbages for tomorrow. Would you mind buying some for me at the market? I have more things to do around the house and don't have time to get them," Hamma told him. Zuko inwardly groaned but nodded anyways. "Thank you dear," she said, patting his shoulder and taking his bowl to the sink before exiting. She left a small pouch of money in front of him. He sighed, picked up the pouch and headed towards town.

* * *

*** I think in the pop ups it says it was a falcon hawk, but it looked more like a vulture to me...**

**** Replace Iroh with Zuko and viola! **

**Well then I'm going away on the 28th to Spain with no internet for two and a half weeks. So expect my Ty Zula week drabbles late ( I fail at weeks) my Zutara week stuff later and possibly Taang week...but i didn't even hear about it until like today so I don't know about that... **


	7. Author's Note

MAJOR PROJECT!

I am now working on a major plot bunny right now and won't have time for Fugitive at the moment. This project is part of the reason why I haven't been updating Fugitive. To be honest I haven't written a single word more of Fugitive since late June

The plot bunny is basically a prologue on what happens before Avatar Korra is almost fully realized. It basically explains how the GAang died and the aftermath. There is so much depth. It is also confirmed that Azula will still be alive and that her heir is the antagonist. This story is based on this information. This will be my new project starting NOW.

I have a year to complete this project, perhaps even less.

Wish me luck!

~Things


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